A life that pleases God

"Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more." (1 Thess 4:1)

When leading discussion on 1 Thess 4 this past Sunday I was troubled by this verse. Particularly I was troubled by the thought of living in order to please God. Two questions:

1. is living to please God a right motive for life and action when it feels like a burden?
2. is it possible to live a life that pleases God?

As I reflected on what was troubling to me I realized that the questions that I had were rooted in my beliefs about who God is. Truth be told I have a tendency to conceive of God more as a task master/slave driver, than a Father who is pleased. In fact it is very difficult for me to believe that my life could ever be pleasing to God. So when I read a verse like this instead of holding onto the part where Paul states "as in fact you are living", I pull out my whip, commence with the self-flagellation and fixate on the end "do this more and more", all the while reminding myself that God is not pleased, that no matter how much progress I seem to make it is never enough, and there is always more to do. The God of my heart is very similar (and unfortunately as ugly) the slave driver pictured above.

But the God of the Bible is the same God who when Jesus was baptized spoke with a voice from heaven and declared, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matt 3:17) This is the God who Paul declared to the Thessalonians. A loving Father who is pleased with the lives of his children. A God different than the fickle pantheon they had been accustomed to worshiping. Not a God who demanded endless sacrifices for his own pleasure, but God who genuinely was pleased with their lives and the things that they were doing.

Then it struck me that the motivation for "do this more and more" comes not from the knowledge that God is never pleased, but instead from the joy that comes from fully understanding that one's life "as in fact you are living" is pleasing to God. My prayer is that I would one day be able to hear the voice from heaven that speaks "this is my son Andy, whom I love; and with him I am well pleased" without blushing or being ashamed or making excuses for why it is not true and simply rest in its truth. I think that if I can get to that place then the second part of "do this more and more" will be a joy and not the burden that it has been.